Kuma the Cat Journal

2016-11-23 08:48   We have got orders!

Y (Kuma's owner)

My husband and I finally started selling our puzzle products from 13th November on eBay. Looking at the computer screen that displays the page of our eBay's page, I am a little relieved. We had many things that we didn't know much about; eBay, Paypal, establishing company and so on. We have struggled through somehow.Our online shop is very small and there are only two kinds of product on our page, and I think it should be difficult to get the customer's attention.

Since we have started selling, I have been checking the email from eBay often. I had been hoping that someone would order our products and my dream came true yesterday! We have got orders. We were so happy and packed all the puzzles that were ordered in a box and went to the local post office quickly.

The Christmas season is coming and I hope the customers who ordered our puzzles are able to enjoy them during the Christmas holidays.

2016-10-18 23:56   Our First Puzzles are Under Progress

Y (Kuma's owner)

I've been busy these days making puzzles. Making puzzles is not my hobby, it's my husband's and my business that was started in July 2016.

We are not puzzle collectors but love to make and play puzzles. When we were small, we both liked to make things.

My husband started making his original puzzles when he was small, and he acquired the knowledge of timber and how to use tools.

I was a child with a questioning mind and tried to make anything I was interested in. I like puzzles or something related to puzzles.

So that the business of making puzzles is a suitable job for the two of us, don't you think so?

We have decided that we are going to make and sell puzzles that were designed by my husband. We would like to run our business with our original puzzles. We have already started selling a polyhedral model called "Juno's Spinner" on eBay. Actually, that is not a puzzle, that is a kind of polyhedron but it's also one of the originals.

Our first puzzle products are under progress now. We have chosen beautiful white colored wood, Silver Ash and dark American Walnut wood for the first puzzles (See the pictures below). These two colours are a nice combination and make our first puzzles look beautiful.

Unfortunately, we are not able to show you a picture of the first puzzle yet. I can only say that we are making the puzzles which are connected with a polyhedron. I think it's a very difficult puzzle. If you are a kind of man who likes to challenge difficulties, you should try.

When they are ready for selling, I will let you know by this blog and my twitter account (https://twitter.com/pluredro_shop). I'm hoping that my puzzle friends will like our first puzzles.

2016-02-23 02:49   The story of Kuma 9 - My second attempt

Kuma

Since I missed the chance to get bacon last time, I had been waiting for human Y to cook bacon. While I was waiting for a chance, I should have practised jumping. The biggest reason I missed the chance was I couldn't jump high enough. I am a Scottish Fold cat. Some people say that Scottish Fold are not good at jumping, I think it is partly right.

One day, my human's friend visited us. They brought some Chinese pork steamed buns. Those buns looked so yummy. Well, I wanted to eat bacon but better than nothing. I'm an opportunist.

Human Y put the bun's dish on the middle of the table. I felt really uneasy because humans might have eaten all the buns. I was walking around the table and checking how many buns were still there.

Suddenly, one of the friends stood up and said something, and then all of them left the room. They seemed likely to go to the garage. That was good, really good! The garage was a bit far from this room. I had enough time to get buns.

And what was better, buns were on the table and there were chairs around. That meant I could jump on the chair first and could reach the top of the table. Finally, my chance has come!

I jumped on the chair and then jumped on the table top. Here they were. The steamed Chinese pork buns were there. I didn't want to eat buns around pork, so I bit off the buns. Hmm, nice smell. I bit a meatball inside the bun. When I bit it, the gravy was coming out. It was juicy and very yummy.

Do humans eat such yummy food every day? Why don't they give us cats more delicious food? That's unfair.

No, no. I didn't have the time to think about our treatment. I should have rushed. They would come back soon. I wanted to eat a little more but greed causes failure. It was time to get off the table.

We have house rules. One of the rules for cats was humans cannot scold us if they didn't see what we did. What a good rule! I know it was obvious that I ate the meatball, but humans have no right to blame me. he-he.

Meanwhile, humans came back to the room. When they came back, I was licking around my muzzle with evident satisfaction. Human Y noticed the bitten buns first. She looked disappointed.

I don't know why but sometimes things like this happen. For instance, when she is happy, I'm not so happy, or when I am excited, she is not excited. It is like we are sitting on the opposite side of a seesaw.

She had to clean the room when I was excited with toys and made a mess. Maybe this is one of the reasons.

Anyway, I could eat a yummy meatball with no blame. What a remarkable day!

[This story is based on the true story.]

2016-02-19 11:09   The story of Kuma 8 - My first attempt

Kuma

As I wrote in the journal before, I love bacon very much. I cannot resist that savory smell. Even when I have no appetite, I can eat bacon.

However, my humans don't agree to serve bacon on my dish. They have the policy that they don't give me bacon because it's salty and fatty. Yeah, it's salty and fatty, but humans eat it. I think if they can eat bacon, we cats can eat bacon as well. Don't you think so?

I have abandoned an attempt to negotiate with humans for bacon. They are too stubborn. Therefore, there is only one way left for me to get bacon.

Sneaking.

One day, human Y was cooking bacon on the frying pan. The smell of crispy bacon was so enticing. Yes! It was the day to carry out the strategy. The first step was to attract Y's attention to somewhere outside of the kitchen. If it's possible, the longer, the better.

And then, the doorbell rang. Lucky me!

It's the time to challenge! I rushed to go to the kitchen and I tried to jump on the kitchen bench. Jump, jump, jump! And I got tired. Oh, no. I should have jumped on the kitchen bench before Y came back, but it was too high for me. I totally forgot that I was not good at jumping. Meanwhile Y came back to the kitchen.

Time's up!

* This story is based on what I have really experienced.

2016-02-17 04:03   The story of Kuma 7 - Cat entrance

Kuma

If you have read my previous journals, you may know about lots of furniture for us cats. This time, I'll introduce cat furniture which was practical not only for cats but also humans. It's a cat entrance.

One day, family Y said she wanted a small hole or door on the living room's sliding door. Every time we cats come in or go away from the room, humans had to open the sliding door or keep the door opened. It was no problem if it was summer. In winter, humans used a heater and if the door was opened, warm air leaked out from the room. It's not ECO, is it?

I requested buying an automatic door, but they overruled. I was disappointed they didn't consider my suggestion. Instead of buying an automatic door, they decided to make something.

First, they thought through how to make a hole. It was easier if we could have cut the glass of the sliding door, but there was an issue. I couldn't jump to the height of the glass. Well, I hate to admit it, but, I was not sporty at all.

J made a long box which they called cat tunnel. Actually, it didn't look like a tunnel, it was an entrance anyway. J placed the cat entrance between the post and the sliding door. There was a still small hole, but it didn't matter because warm air flowed to the upper part of the room.

It's nice to have my own entrance.

2016-02-12 04:37   The story of Kuma 6 - Cat houses

Kuma

I'm going to talk about the cat houses today. As I wrote in the previous journal, my family J loves woodworking. He made lots of furniture for us. People who have kept cats know that cats love to sit in boxes. J thought if he made a cat house I would love it, and I did!

It's not fun if the box is shaped like an ordinary box. He designed cat's face shaped window and also it was used as an entrance. This cat house has long four legs and we could enjoy the view from it. At the back of the house, there was a small hole that put through an electric code of heater.

After he had made the first cat house, he decided to make another one. The second cat house didn't have legs, because it was going to be put on the catwalk. The second one was very special. The outline of the house was my face. The window was shaped like my muzzle, you see? J put it on the catwalk beside the window. The window faced south and it was very warm in winter. I used to enjoy taking a nap and watching cars and pedestrians from there.

Sometimes, people who passed in front of my house spoke to me and said "Hello kitty!". I was an indoor cat, that's why this place was the only place where I could see outside people.

I'll talk about other cat furniture next time.

2016-02-08 04:58   The story of Kuma 5 - Cat trees

Kuma

I think I have been writing about food a lot, so I'll change the topic today.

I would like to introduce the cat furniture I had. I had two cat trees, a catwalk, a cat tunnel and two cat houses. These pieces of furniture were all handmade by my family J. He loves woodwork, and of course loves cats.

He had made a big cat tree before I came his house. How well he made it!

The structure of the cat tree was in five stages. The top was an observation platform. It almost reached the ceiling. I have never reached the top because I was not good at climbing. On the second level, there was a small cabin. I used to sleep in there. It was nice and cozy. I liked sitting there holding my head out of the cabin and watching my family. There was a big room underneath the tree. My humans kept two carry bags there. It was totally like a building with the parking lot on the ground floor.

Another cat tree was small but useful. The height of the tree was just the same as the height of the window sill. I could do human and bird-watching from there. The post of the cat tree was not straight. J intentionally tilted it. I liked that idea because almost everything in the house stands straight. It was interesting to have one which did not stand at 90 degrees.

I'll introduce other cat furniture next time.

2016-02-04 03:22   The story of Kuma 4 - My favorite food

Kuma

Our humans got used to taking care of me. Then, they knew my favorite brand of cat biscuits. It was very important because I was a gourmet cat.

They kept a stock of my favorite brand at any time. They believed that they themselves had chosen the brand, but I did. I tempted them to buy specific cat food without them noticing.

When I was served my favorite food, I ate it very quickly. Conversely, I ate very slowly when I had my least favorite food. I knew humans were watching me. Mostly, they bought cat food on the internet. My favorite brand was sold everywhere and they wouldn't miss it. When they saw my favorite, they recall the scenery where I was eating happily and quickly. Television commercials and the vet advice were also a big help. I was very impressed that people who work for advertising firms use words cleverly. The magic word was "healthy". They had a weakness for the word "healthy". My strategy has succeeded, but what should I do if I wanted to get the food that's not healthy?

As a matter of fact, the most favorite food of mine was bacon. Even just imagining, my mouth would be watered. What a mouth-watering food!

However, my humans didn't allow me to eat bacon. The reason was because bacon is too fatty and salty.

To get bacon was the most difficult operation because it was in the refrigerator. I told myself, the chance will come if I do not give it up.

2016-01-31 21:30   The story of Kuma 3 - A tip to get more food

Kuma

Humans think that we cats are not smart enough. I think they underestimate our abilities. They think dogs are more useful than cats because they work for humans. And also, dogs have a keen sense of smell. Yeah, that is true, though cats have keen noses to sniff as well. We cats don't want to be used by humans. We are proud of being a cat, meow.

When I moved to the new family home in 2004, I made up my mind to spend happy days in the future. I will never be controlled by humans. I will control humans without them noticing.

At first, to achieve this purpose, I needed to survey humans. It was easy to understand their physical traits. They had bad reflexes, heavy heads, and inflexible bodies. Their sense of smell was so bad. The most difficult part to understand was their mind. Luckily I had plenty of time to observe. The book which was written by Desmond Morris, "The Naked Ape," was quite useful.

What? Can't you trust what I said? I can read books. Nowadays, even a cat has a twitter account, you know? Times have changed.

At the time, I was still young and wanted to eat a lot. I used to demand J and Y that I wanted to eat more. Their answer made me disappointed. They thought I ate enough every day. In my opinion, they were overeating, not me. My best friend cat Kemeko loves eating. She wanted to eat more too.

Therefore, I got a plan to get extra food. To carry out the plan, I had to have someone who was not a family member.

One day, J and Y's friends visited. The long wished-for day to try the plan finally came. I was waiting for the guests in the living room. When they passed in front of me, some of them patted my head gently. That was a good sign. Maybe some of them liked cats. I had an auspicious start.

My humans knew that we had enough breakfast but the guests didn't know that. This is a tip of success. I mewed whiningly in front of the guests. I reckoned that the guest who heard my meow would suggest the owner feed more food to us. In fact, my first attempt succeeded.

Please be careful dear cat reader, I guess you might meow loudly to get attention, but it is not good. If you want to insist you are hungry, you should weakly meow otherwise humans would notice that you are not so hungry. We need techniques because it is a bit difficult to get attention with weak meows.

A cat's owner gets worried easily if it's pointed out by someone that they don't take care of cats well. They have to prove that they have never abused their own cats. I bet even though they already fed you, they would give you additional food.

A happy life comes after happy tummies.

2016-01-29 08:44   The story of Kuma 2

Kuma

My life with Kemeko started on the 22nd of February, 2004.

Kemeko and I had nearly the same types of personalities.

I think that there are two kinds of characteristics of cats. One is cautious and timid, the other one is reckless and friendly.

I was a reckless type of cat. I liked doing things at my own pace. I didn't scare people, other cats and even dogs. Some cats don't like humans that they are not familiar with, but I didn't care. I could behave affable to anyone. People around me said that I was stately. I think that was because I didn't have anything to be scared of around here. Even the vacuum cleaner couldn't make me scared. The only the thing that could make me scared was hunger. I had an experience of hunger before I came to this house. Unfortunately, I was kicked out in winter. That was a terrible experience.

Kemeko had the same experience as mine. No, no, her experience was more serious. She was abandoned by someone when she was less than a year old. When she was rescued, she was so skinny and looked like a skeletal specimen. The vet who cured her thought that she would not survive, but she did! Everybody thought that she was very friendly. She was abandoned by humans and still loved humans. Her painful experience didn't affect her character.

Anyway, both of us survived from the hunger, and decided to have a fun, warm life with our tummies always full.

2016-01-26 10:40   The story of Kuma　1

Kuma

I think I haven't introduced myself yet. Well, as you know (I suppose) , I'm a cat. My name is Kuma. I was born somewhere and was brought up somewhere. I mean I was a stray cat. One cold day in January, I was rescued by a volunteer who took care of stray cats.

She took my photo and uploaded it to the famous adopting website for cats. I didn't know what was what, anyway several days later I was pushed into a carry bag and got in the car. And then, the place where I arrived was J and Y's house.

I still remember the first month at the house clearly as if it was yesterday. At that time, I was an only cat at home. There was a big cat tree, a big water bowl and a dish for food. Everything was ready for me. I had a full of sense of satisfaction. My new life had started smoothly and happily until the second cat came.

I couldn't understand why my humans decided to adopt another cat. In February, a female cat Kemeko came to the house. At first, I was a little grumpy, but Kemeko was very friendly and my feelings changed. Yes, she had a cheerful disposition and was a lovely cat.

February is the coldest month in Japan. Kemeko and I used to sit on a cushion together and warmed up. We became tiddas (best friends).